Uniformed Officers Caught on Video Posing at Border Wall Prototype

NBC 7's Llarisa Abreu spoke to San Diegans with differing opinions on whether the officers were being offensive. (Published Thursday, March 15, 2018)

Uniformed law enforcement posed for a photograph pretending to climb one of the border wall prototypes, their actions caught on video by a California college student on the Mexico side.

Three officers, who appear to be with the San Diego Police Department (SDPD), can be seen near one of the prototypes east of Otay Mesa Port of Entry soon after President Donald Trump's visit to the restricted area this week.

One officer puts his hands up on the wall and raises his foot while a second officer poses as if he's giving the officer a hand climbing up the wall. The third officer appears to be using a phone to capture the picture.

Jaciel Ortega, a student at Scripps College in Claremont, California was in Mexico on a school trip for her "US-Mexico Border" class.

Ortega said the officers looked in her direction and appeared to notice they were being recorded but, she said, they didn't say anything to her.

She posted the video on Instagram shortly after taking it with a caption that read in part, "these are the officers that are on the streets terrorizing communities of color." In the two days it's been up users have commented on it nearly 200 times -- some calling it an offensive joke while others brush off the actions as harmless.

"Some Mexicans, we do things right. So we have the visa, we have the other papers right. But some Mexicans don't do that because they have a money emergency, an economic emergency, so that's offensive for us," Lumberas said.

When NBC 7 reached out to the SDPD to get some information regarding the officers' actions and why they were in the restricted area near the prototypes, Officer Bill Hernandez said, "We were just made aware of this and [are] currently looking into the incident."